Sale available? Sox at winter meetings to listen

Club signs right-hander Paulino to 1-year deal

December 09, 2013|By Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune reporter

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — White Sox general manager Rick Hahn took a seat in a hotel suite crowded with team executives and reporters Monday afternoon and didn't even wait for the question before addressing the rumors.

While the Sox signed free-agent right-handed pitcher Felipe Paulino to a one-year contract to open baseball's winter meetings at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, the louder buzz circulating was that the Sox would entertain offers for left-handed pitcher Chris Sale. Hahn was quick to classify the Sale rumors as "a dog bites man story."

"We are here to listen," Hahn said. "That's our job."

Hahn said he doesn't believe in "untouchable" players, but as he indicated a month ago at the general managers meetings in Florida, listening to offers and parting with a 24-year-old pitcher he considers a "perennial Cy Young candidate" are two very different things.

"At the end of the day, there are certain integral parts of this club that if they ever were to be moved, it would have to be for a return that we felt was overwhelming," Hahn said.

Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf also didn't completely rule out the idea of trading Sale, who was 11-14 with a 3.07 ERA in 30 games this year and is under contract with the Sox until 2017, with club options in 2018 and 2019. But Reinsdorf didn't make it sound likely.

"I only had one player in my 33 years of sports that couldn't be traded, and he wore No. 23, and 45 when he played baseball," Reinsdorf, also the Bulls chairman, said of Michael Jordan. "I've never had another player that couldn't be traded, so I can't tell you that when I see (Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams) today that they don't tell me they want to trade him, but I'd be very surprised."

Hahn spoke of the continued interest in several Sox pitchers, including one deal that came close to being completed before the other team opted for another club's position player instead. Left-handers Jose Quintana and Hector Santiago look to be more likely to be in line for a trade than Sale, though Hahn acknowledged the value of having Quintana as a No. 2 behind Sale.

"We really like having those guys together," Hahn said.

The signing of Paulino to a $1.75 million contract gives the Sox another option whether or not a trade is made.

Paulino, a 30-year-old Dominican who previously pitched for the Astros, Rockies and Royals, will receive $1.5 million in 2014. A $4 million club option for 2015, with a $250,000 buyout, was a key component, Hahn said, because the 6-foot-3, 270-pound Paulino hasn't pitched in the major leagues since June 2012.

After going 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA in seven starts in 2012 for the Royals, he had surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He went 0-3 with a 6.51 ERA over seven starts with two Royals minor league clubs in 2013 before undergoing shoulder surgery. He opted for free agency rather than accept a Royals Triple-A assignment in November.

Hahn said his confidence in head athletic trainer Herm Schneider and pitching coach Don Cooper makes it easier to take a chance on a player like Paulino.

"When he's right and healthy, we see him as a power arm with four pitches and a guy who can be a quality starter in a big league rotation," Hahn said. "Based on our medical reports and based on where he has progressed to, we have every reason to believe he'll be able to help us come opening day."